Choice is an Illusion
by beautyandrage
Summary: "Will you be my girlfriend?" - - - Zuko learns from his uncle a secret he never would have imagined. Oneshot. MaixZuko.


**A/N: I was reading electric gurrl's _Blue Silk _and this idea came to me. It's unrelated to her fic, but credit goes to her idea of Mai's father using her marriage hand for political gain, which... seems very canon. Also _Game of Thrones_.**

Iroh is in the back of the tea-shop, cleaning out used teapots for use tomorrow. It is the day after Zuko's date and he is hoping to hear news of it once Zuko abandons sulking and sleeping in his bedroom. The sun is setting over the walls of the city, and Iroh feels peace inside of him.

Zuko walks down the stairs with thunderous footsteps, the feet that always trip him up when he is bending. Iroh smiles faintly to himself and turns around as Zuko sits and sets his elbows on the table and his head on his hands. He looks distracted and Iroh examines him closely.

"I have a question, Uncle," Zuko says finally and Iroh raises his eyebrows in response. "That bounty hunter a few months back reminded me of, of Mai. And so did Jin. Do you think I'm going to see her again?"

It surprises Iroh. He did not expect his nephew to be thinking about girls. Then again, he _is _sixteen and it probably is healthy for him to be thinking about girls. Iroh was simply hoping that his thoughts about girls would not involve the one that Ozai was going to force him to marry. That he _would _be married to by now if he weren't banished.

"Life can work in surprising ways," Iroh offers warmly, not wanting to give the honest answer. Zuko groans.

"That's not what I need to hear," Zuko says, scratching at the table. "We had only just started together when I was banished. I mean, we were thirteen but it felt so real."

Iroh hesitates, wondering if he should inform his nephew of the truth. It is much better for him to live in ignorant bliss at times, and now he has come far away from his hot-headed prince days in the Fire Nation. But Zuko deserves the honesty that his father refused to give him.

"Zuko," Iroh says, taking a deep breath, "if you had not been banished, you would be married to her by now."

Zuko's eyes flicker wide. Iroh studies him closely as his sits with his lips parted in surprise, stunned speechless.

"What do you mean, Uncle?" Zuko demands and Iroh sets down the teapot his is scrubbing with a clean rag. "Really, what do you mean, Uncle?"

Iroh sighs. "You and Mai were engaged to be married."

"I had no idea," Zuko says, his voice a soft rasp. His heart is racing as he wonders how such a thing could be true, and he would be unaware.

_**Four Years Ago...**_

"Azula, Mai is here," Zuko says loudly as his Uncle guides Mai into the palace. She looks pretty; she is beautiful, albeit constantly with a blank expression on her face. Zuko admits she makes him blush; Mai has been mocked relentlessly for having a crush on her best friend's brother.

"Zuko, Mai is not here for Azula. She is here to spend time with you," Iroh says calmly and Zuko's heart races. This has to be some kind of _old man _trick to try to get a pair of kids together as sweethearts. But his expression is grave, and Zuko nods slowly. Mai does nothing.

"Uh, okay," Zuko says, with the grace of a thirteen year old boy. _Recently_ thirteen; his birthday was four days ago. There was not much of a celebration. He never has had a birthday party. "So what do you want to do?"

"I don't care," Mai says, shrugging. Zuko swallows; he finds this painfully awkward. He _almost _wishes Azula were here.

"We could go for a walk," Zuko offers and Mai shrugs. She follows him as they head out into the gardens of the palace. They are elaborate and beautiful, distant from the courtyards where Mai and Zuko would play as children. These are the nice ones, with gates and trees that are not charred from Azula's bending accidents.

"Are we allowed here?" Mai asks, raising an eyebrow. Zuko shakes his head and he catches a flicker of a smile on her lips before it fades. "You're such a rebel, Prince Zuko," she says sarcastically and he blushes.

Meanwhile, Iroh faces his brother. They are casually in a hall, but the tension between them is more palpable than between Iroh's niece and nephew.

"With all due respect, Zuko is too young for this," Iroh says, trying to talk sense into Ozai as they walk through the halls. He holds no resentment for his brother, but that feeling is not mutual. "They are children."

"The agreement has already been made, Iroh. I would advise you not meddle in the business of people who clearly have a better understanding of how this world works." And Ozai rounds a corner and disappears. Iroh frowns faintly. It was worth a try.

Zuko now lacks a mother and gains a fiancée. All by his thirteenth birthday.

The two adolescents walk beside each other, in all awkwardness, as Zuko tells a relatively boring story. They reach a stream with crystalline water. Leaves float in it, muddying the pristine view. Mai hates being wet, hates being cold. But she never expresses her unhappiness unless she truly must.

"So, I kind of have a crush on you," Zuko says and Mai is rendered speechless. Prince Zuko always struck her as shy, the kind of kid who gets beat up by his little sister. She did not expect him to have the guts to say that.

Mai doesn't know exactly how to respond. So she kisses him, her first kiss, and it is not unpleasant. Not great, but not unpleasant.

"You're not that bad," Mai says, smirking momentarily as she pulls away. Zuko has his eyes wide, frozen in place. Mai wants to laugh, but she feels vaguely excited.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" Zuko asks awkwardly and Mai has to squeeze her mouth shut to suppress laughter.

"Yeah," she finally manages to reply.

They stand there for a moment, unsure what to do. Zuko holds out his hand, Mai takes it, and they continue their walk holding hands.

Zuko has a particular spring in his step.

And the adults are very pleased that the children who will someday marry are getting along so well.

And two seasons later, Zuko is banished, and Mai's fate is thrown up in the air.

_**Present Day...**_

"It was a sham?" Zuko is livid but he does not know why. "I-Uncle, that's ridiculous."

He punches the table and Iroh sighs. Zuko does not know why it enrages him so much, but he thinks of the awkward adolescent kisses, the unrepentant mockery of the two harpies by the name of Ty Lee and Azula, and the terrible attempts at romantic lines. Their relationship was awkward at best, but Zuko cannot believe his first girlfriend ─ his _only _girlfriend ─ was placed there for him like sugar in a spider-fly trap.

"In our family, things are not exactly as they seem," Iroh says for the thousandth time in his life.

Zuko scowls.

Later, Zuko sees her again. Sees Mai again. As they hesitantly kiss, with the same level of awkward as they did years ago, he wonders if he should tell her about the contract that was made behind their youthful backs. But he doesn't.

They spend the trip back to the Fire Nation rekindling a fire that Zuko thought died out.

"Will you be my girlfriend again?" Zuko asks, though he is sure if they broke up they would be forced back together, given the information that has haunted him since his date in Ba Sing Se.

"I don't know, Prince Zuko. I have a lot of superior options," Mai says sarcastically and Zuko's face turns almost as red as his scar. "Yeah, I guess I'll be your girlfriend again. It can't hurt."

Zuko smiles faintly.

He thinks he wants to marry her someday.


End file.
